If you're a business owner, know that today's leaders now regard appreciation as central to workplace engagement, as it's the emotional connection between an organization and its people. It's a high-impact yet cost-effective driver of productivity, retention, and workplace culture improvement.
Enhancing employee engagement is now also more crucial than ever, seeing how low its rate is and how it has dropped in the last few years.
Per Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2025, the percentage of engaged employees globally decreased from 23% (in 2022 and 2023) to 21% in 2024. "Not engaged" described 62% of employees, while another 17% were "actively disengaged."
If you understand the value of appreciation and the importance of employee recognition, you can take proactive steps to make your hardworking talents feel valued and heard.
What Is Workplace Engagement?
The term "workplace engagement" refers to positive feelings and states of mind that an employee has toward their organization. Examples include:
- Emotional commitment
- Enthusiasm in their roles
- Dedication toward their work, team, and organization as a whole
- Purpose and belonging
The more positive an employee's workplace engagement measures are, the more they're likely to contribute to their organization.
What Are the Signs of Low Engagement?
Learning how to spot the signs of low engagement or disengagement should be part of every employer's effective leadership strategies. As a business owner or leader yourself, you should do this to carry out early intervention before things get worse (e.g., increased turnover rates and talent loss).
Here are the key signs of poor workplace engagement:
- Missed deadlines
- Poor communication
- Lower quality of output (e.g., making more mistakes)
- Decreased productivity
- Withdrawal from team activities
Having an indifferent or negative attitude is another primary indicator of low engagement or disengagement. It can manifest as showing little to no enthusiasm for career development and growth.
Employees with little to no engagement also don't volunteer for tasks or stop volunteering for them. Instead, they only do the bare minimum.
Why Do Leaders Say Appreciation Is Now Central to Workplace Engagement?
According to a study published on the website of the International Association of Applied Psychology, engaged employees are full of energy and feel more dedication toward work. They immerse themselves completely in their jobs while also:
- Experiencing more positive emotions
- Displaying better performance
- Thinking in novel ways
Recognition, a formal, performance-based appreciation and acknowledgement of an employee's achievements and contributions, is a primary driver of workplace engagement. Here's why more and more of today's leaders are understanding this.
Builds and Strengthens the Employee-Workplace Emotional Connection
As social creatures, humans long for recognition and appreciation, a need deeply rooted in evolutionary survival. Today, group acceptance, which once meant belonging, connection, emotional safety, and protection, now also results in a:
- Dopamine boost
- Reinforcement of self-worth
- Validation of human experiences (deemed "normal" and "real")
In the workplace, the effects of recognition and appreciation can help make employees feel better about themselves and their job environment (dopamine boost). They also tend to become more confident in what they do (self-worth reinforcement).
When employers and leaders recognize and appreciate their people's contributions and feedback (whether negative or positive), employees feel validated. It then goes back to having a dopamine boost and self-worth reinforcement.
Employee appreciation, therefore, creates a cycle of positive employee-workplace emotional connection.
Boosts Productivity
Enhancing performance is one of the positive impacts of employee recognition and rewards, according to the folks at Kudos. One reason is that it's an effective "positive reinforcement" strategy.
Positive reinforcement is a type of behavioral technique aimed at motivating an individual to take desirable actions. It works by providing a person with a reward or pleasant stimulus (e.g., acknowledgement, appreciation, praise, or privilege), following their positive behavior.
By consistently showing appreciation to employees who deserve it, employees are likely to become even more willing and excited to continue with their desirable behaviors (such as working hard and producing excellent quality work).
Increases Retention
According to Fair Play Talks, an independent online platform that delivers global news and insights into workplace wellbeing, diversity, equity, and inclusion, when employees feel valued, they're 2.5 times more likely to stay with their current employer.
Employees who don't feel engaged or are actively disengaged, on the other hand, are more likely to quit or are already looking for another job. Their negative emotions and states of mind, unfortunately, are usually due to a lack of appreciation and poor management.
Enhances Workplace Culture
Consistent employee appreciation and recognition are critical to boosting team morale and company culture because they address the intrinsic needs of employees for belonging and self-esteem.
When appreciated and recognized, talents feel valued and experience a sense of accomplishment. Such positive emotions motivate them to do even more good work and contribute to the company.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can Employers and Leaders Boost Workplace Engagement?
Employers and leaders can improve workplace engagement by conducting regular check-ins with their employees.
As a business owner, leader, or manager, for instance, you should consider scheduling one-on-one meetings with each of your team members. Discuss their engagement, not just their tasks and responsibilities, and give credit where it's due.
Soliciting feedback, such as through surveys, is another actionable step for employers and leaders to boost engagement. Implementing recognition and reward programs can also make employees feel appreciated and valued for the work they do.
What Are the Consequences of Ignoring Low Engagement in the Workplace?
The longer employees feel disengaged or experience poor engagement, the more likely they are to leave the company.
Even if they don't, they're unlikely to contribute to the success of their organization. They may, for instance, "call in sick" more frequently.
Such negative behaviors may even contribute to your firm's downfall. Examples include project mistakes and missed deadlines. Both can lead to unhappy clients and loss of business.
Up Your Workplace Engagement Rate by Appreciating Your People More
Enhancing workplace engagement is a task that requires employers and leaders to show employee appreciation and recognition where and when they're due. Whether it's through verbal acknowledgement and praise or formal awards, ensure your well-deserving employees feel valued and heard.
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This article was prepared by an independent contributor and helps us continue to deliver quality news and information.
